Congratulations! You have graduated college and landed a great job. You studied hard and it paid off, to the tune of $50k a year in salary. (Statistics taken from www.engineersalary.com). So how can anyone making fifty thousand dollars a year screw things up? Oh...let me count the ways!

Mistake #1:How did you pay for college? Lately, I am encountering more and more college graduates with 100, 125 or even $150,000 dollars in debt from attending college. I must admit....I find this preposterous. I can see this kind of debt for an MBA or an M.D. as your future earning potential will allow for the debt to be paid off. You might be making a great starting salary...but you will also find yourself with a lot less money than you think. After a real income tax rate of 18-20% You are already down to 40k. Oh...don't forget your loans! With average interest rates at 6%, the loan payment could easily be 40% of your take home pay. Suddenly all you have left to live on is $24,000. It can be done......but most likely you are forgetting something!

Mistake #2: That thing you forgot? Yep, saving money. When you are stretched to the limit by poor decision making the last thing a 23 year old wants to think about is saving for the future. Number 2 of the biggest mistakes you can make in your 20's is not saving for the future. Right away, young professionals should save 6 months living expenses in an emergency fund. After that, they should then start saving for a down payment on a home. I suggest 20-25% of income should be saved in total towards these goals and retirement as well. Not saving enough money in your 20's could translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars left on the table in lost interest and growth.Mistake #3: Talking about leaving money on the table, according to www.zerohedge.comthe average retirement savings contribution rate for workers in their 20's is 5.65%. The more depressing statistic is, however, according to the BLS, only 69% of workers with access to a 401k plan actively contribute. Contributing to a 401k reduces your taxable income by the amount put in. This is a guaranteed return of 18-20% in the first year. (based on not paying taxes on that amount) In addition, If your company offers a match and you don't participate, you are leaving FREE money on the table. for example, at a previous employer I had a 50% match on the first 4% of my salary I put in. Doing some simple math, by contributing 4% of 50k a year the average employee would have an extra $1,000 dollars deposited into their 401k. 1,000 at 8% interest over 40 years?....= $315,000!, ( interest compounded monthly and amount deposited monthly) Well, after this joyride....we couldn't possibly blow it any more, could we?

Mistake #4: Yep...just go ahead and blow it, your money that is. Too many people in this country buy things every day they do not need. Fancy clothes and fancy cars, expensive dinners and expensive vacations, keeping up with the Joneses as they say. I do not have exact numbers here but I can tell you this. Blowing $100 dollars every weekend at various bars and clubs might not seem like a lot but it adds up to over $5,000 for the year. If an extra 1K a year in your 401k is worth over 300k when you retire, I hope you really, really liked that martini!Mistake #5: Well its not like I spent money I did not have. Right? According to Time.com, More than 20% of individuals in their 20's overspent their income by more than $100. That’s every single month. And since they haven’t built up their credit histories yet, it’s a safe bet that these young adults are paying relatively high interest rates on the resulting credit card debt.

Are you tired of being told that you are not qualified? Experience required? Or as Tesla so aptly put it "Long haired freaky people need not apply" Well then, stop looking and start creating. Below I will list some jobs that are easily created for little to no money. So, stop sitting on the couch wondering why you can't FIND a job and go CREATE one! ***Advertising is free on www.craigslist.com***

JOB

Car DetailerMowing Lawns/LandscapingBabysitting

Personal Assistant/Gopher

Fiverr.com

REQUIREMENTS

﻿Portable Vacuum/Carpet Cleaner, armor-all, soap, buckets, etc. $40 to $250 in start up costs depending on rent vs. buy of carpet cleaner.Lawnmower, weedwacker, trailer, etc. $75 to $1000 in start up costs depending on what you buy. A used 22 inch lawnmower($75) in the trunk of your car and you can be making 10-15 bucks an hour no problem.Zero start up costs. I pay my babysitter $10 an hour....not bad. Oh and that is under the table.Obviously you need a reliable car and a nice smartphone for this one. I will assume you already have the car and most likely the smartphone. People with money will happily spend it to save time. If you can sell someone time.....they will pay handsomely for it.This website is Awesome! You can sell your services for anything on this website. Building websites, promoting websites, singing, drawing, etc. If you can think of it...someone wants you to do it for them. Check it outwww.fiverr.com

You have heard the rumblings at parties, seen the press conferences from politicians and no doubt worried about it yourself; why are our students not doing as well as those from other countries? In response to that question, I will ask some other questions. What if our students are not behind the curve? What if we are just pushing too many of our students in the wrong direction? And my favorite question, what ever happened to shop class? We are raising a generation of youth that are dependent on those around them for success. They are not able to think for themselves nor are they able to fish for themselves. There is a point to the old parable of teaching a man to fish versus giving him a fish, is there not? We are telling our youth they must conform instead of teaching them how to shape the world to fit themselves. As a teacher, I think this is the biggest failing of our system. By trying to chase other countries and other cultures we are loosing our own cultural identity. Lets start the discussion by reviewing some of the studies out there.

The Current Research and/or Studies﻿

This Study from the Programme for International Student Acheivement shows how 15 year old American students are behind other countries 15 year old students in Math.

This Study from Pearson does a better job with aggregate data on funding as well various inputs, outputs and data on teacher quality Here is a table that is a little easier to digest then the full report.

What are the Underlying Issues?

If, according to the above studies, we are spending more than most countries on education, why are we underperforming? It comes down to culture. That is, how important do we see education as a society. In the countries at the top of these studies, (South Korea for example) they are literally killing themselves to get into the top schools. You should also check outthis article from the Brisbane Times on how private education "HAGWONS" are the root cause of both the success of these students and their extremely focused, overworked and overstressed lives.These "top" countries may have students with higher ability levels when it comes to standardized tests on Math, Science and Language, yet they are difficient in creativity and divergent thinking. The backbone of American ingenuity is just that! The ability to think outside the box and create ideas, products and services that other people want and need.

Question

Are we pushing our students too hard?

What do these tests really tell us?

Do we really need math anyway? I mean come on!

Other Countries

South Korea has the highest suicide rate among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with an average of 33.5 people per 100,000 taking their lives in 2010, far higher than Hungary (23.3) and Japan (21.2) which ranked Nos. 2 and 3.

''The children are only good at solving problems they are set,'' said Song Whan-woong, of a reformist group called the National Association of Parents for True Education. ''They don't know how to solve problems more creatively. And it really costs a large amount of money for education. That's why parents are wary of having babies.''Source: Brisbane times

Those in Korea "need" math as a way to make it into the elite SKY universities. These three universities are like our Ivy League schools.

The U.S.A.

Many students are underperforming or even dropping out of highschool in the U.S. The reason for this is because they are a square peg we are attempting to fit into a round hole. Where are the building trades? Shop class? Auto repair?

Who has been successful in this country? It has been those individuals with the ability to be creative and use divergent thinking.Think of all the immigrants who came here under the promise that if they just worked hard, they could make it. For crying out loud our schools are modeled after factories!

Quite frankly, NO! In my estimation there is no need for math past the 7th grade. Calculations wise, every bit of math you need can be done with simple arithmetic or done on a calculator or computer. We keep teaching Calculus and trigonometry for the critical thinking skills it imparts.

You have seen me mention Divergent thinking a few times in this article already. It has to do with creativity. It is the ability for someone to really look at something different and solve a problem. Check out the video below as a talk by Sir Ken Robinson on Changing Paradigms explains it in depth.

In summation, I would like to postulate the theory that we are failing our children. But how we are failing our children is by giving them too much education! By forcing kids into looking like a "model" student we are impeding their ability to think, to dream and to feel that they have a place in this world. If you look at the Korean model, there is only one path to success for students, getting into the prestigious SKY universities. Is that not the problem we are currently facing in this country? It was once possible to be successful working with your hands, now one must be educated in the glories of STEM. Not everyone likes science, technology, engineering and math! What about the arts, music, cooking, construction, etc. They say that kids born today will have jobs we do not even know exist today. This is the reason politicians use for "reforming" the current education system. As a teacher I do not like the new reforms. However, would we not be better served teaching kids to think for themselves? Teaching them to fish for themselves? And ultimately teaching them to create their own jobs if none exist that they are interested in?

Do not fear! All is not lost! There is a way to fix this. In fact, many teachers are already using this technique in their classrooms. It is called getting to know your students. John C Maxwell, a famous leadership coach, is quoted as saying, "they won't care what you know until they know you care". This is definitely true for educators. In my lifetime the best teachers and principals I have crossed paths with, truly cared about the kids. If you want students to succeed you must find a way to connect with them, show them you care and open their eyes to their potential.

It is the often asked question in life.....how do I get a raise? Why did he/she get promoted and I did not? Well the answer is usually quite simple....they asked for it! Many people who do not "climb the ladder" at work, do not do so, either because they do not know how or they simply do not ask for those jobs. The short list below will set you on your way to a better career and a bigger salary.

DO THIS

Negotiate your first salary: This can mean thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the job. This also lets your employer know you are serious and that you have other options. Sites like Payscale.com can help with this.

Dress for Success: Always dress for the job you want, not the job you have. I don't care if you work at McDonald's at $8.00 an hour. Look professional and follow the lead of your manager.

Ask for the Promotion!: If your company has annual performance reviews, speak up in them about your career aspirations. Schedule 1 on 1's with your boss and let him/her know where you see yourself in 1-2 years.

DO NOT DO THIS

Be Unrealistic: Know what you are worth. Do not ask for too much or you will be seen as greedy an impatient. Use sites like Salary.com to know what various jobs pay.

Milk the Clock: Whether you are an hourly employee or on salary, do not take all of your sick days, (when you are not sick), or just hang around doing nothing. It makes you look like a moocher and not like an important cog in that company.

Be quiet and shy: No one fires the guy he plays golf with. You can be the best employee, but if no one knows it.....oh well. Also, if you do not speak up and take credit for the accomplishments you have, someone else, (your boss, coworker, etc.) may do it for you.

President Obama decided it was necessary to bring up a salacious comment during his State of the Union address. He claimed, erroneously, that women only make 77% of what men do. The video below will help to dispel that myth as well as give women very sage career planning advice.